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Mrs. William (Leura) Canary
U.S. Attorney in Montgomery
Leura Garrett Canary, daughter of the late Senator Eugene
Garrett and granddaughter of the late Senator Will Garrett is a
Bush appointed U.S. Attorney in Montgomery. She is married to
Bill Canary who referred to her as one of his "girls"
commissioned to "get Siegelman". She worked on the corruption
case against Democratic Governor Don Siegelman first under
Bill Pryor, and then as a Bush appointed US Attorney.[1][3]
She not only directed State and Federal resources to
investigate her Governor, she seems to have worked to divert
investigation, as well. First, she deflected inquiry into the Indian
Casino money funneled to the Bob Riley's campaign from
Abramoff by having secured an appointment to a licensing
board which would control the question. [1] In Oct. 2007 TIME
magazine reported on information obtained from documents that
Leura Canary refused to turn over to Congress. They show that
Canary also ignored testimony suggesting corruption of her
boss Bill Pryor, and GOP congressman Jess Sessions while
investigating Siegelman. In an unusual exercise of prosecutorial
discretion, nearly all the payments and donations to the GOP
went uninvestigated while all questions concerning Siegelman's
donations was investigated in a mad dog fury. [4]
In mid-2001, Leura Canary commenced an investigation into
“certain state employees” on corruption allegations. It soon
became apparent that the principal target of this investigation
was Democratic Governor Siegelman. The investigation had
been initiated at the request of activist Republican William Pryor,
then Attorney General of Alabama. Various representatives of
Mrs. Canary’s office have given conflicting explanations of the
source of the complaint that initiated the investigation. Usually
they attribute it to a newspaper reporter from Mobile in an effort
to hide the highly partisan political source. [1]
In March 2002 an attorney for Siegelman filed paperwork with
the Justice Department for her recusal. The attorney argued
that Mrs. Canary was conflicted under ethical guidelines binding
on U.S. Attorneys for two reasons: first, her husband, William
Canary, was then working as a paid political consultant for
Attorney General Pryor, the man whose complaints were driving
the case, and second, her husband was the paid political
consultant for Lt. Gov. Steve Windom, who had declared his
intention to oppose Siegelman for the governorship.[1]
- On May 16, 2002—roughly a year into the case, and nearly two
months after Siegelman's attorney complained to the U.S.
Justice Department about Canary's husband having ties to some
of Siegelman's Republican opponents”[2] — Leura Canary
issued a press statement:
- As to any matters pertaining to any current investigation
of [Governor Siegelman] which may be underway, the
Department of Justice has advised me that no actual
conflicts of interest exist. However, out of an abundance
of caution, I have requested that I be recused to avoid
any question about my impartiality.
However, Scott Horton's researchers were unable to find any
court filed recusal papers. So did Leura Canary actually recuse
herself? Mrs. Canary went to lengths to appear in the media and
state that she had withdrawn. But apparently she never really
gave up complete control over the case, turning the work over to
assistants Franklin and Feaga, career attorneys in her office
that report to her. [1]
Siegelman lost the Governor's seat in a close and contested
race in 2002, but polls in 2003 showed that he had a good
chance of recapturing the governorship. Then came the first
indictment from the U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, Alice Martin,
charging Siegelman with using his position to rig a state bidding
process. [4]
- [1] Harper's 9/14/07
[2] AP, 5/16/02
[3] Alabama Congressional Resolution (HJR454)
CONGRATULATING WILLIAM J. AND LEURA GARRETT CANARY ON THE BIRTH OF
A DAUGHTER. 1998
[4]Selective Justice in Alabama? TIME?CNN 10/04/07
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| __________________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsored by Friends of Don Siegelman 2007 <feedback> __________________________________________________________________________________________ |
ATTORNEYS
LEURA CANARY
LEURA CANARY
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| Leura Canary |
| photo: video freeze from FTR interview Leura Canary was appointed by Bush to the position of U.S. Attorney in Montgomery. She had worked as an assistant to Bill Pryor where the prosecution of Don Siegelman began, and she continued the prosecution of Don Siegelman as one of Bill Canary's "girls" commissioned with "taking care" of Siegelman. |
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